# Eating grasses & leaves for nutrition and survival **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906 "2002-12-31T18:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranger\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9de053/32.png) [@Ranger\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_X)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/1 "2002-12-31T18:16:32Z")
Humans cannot gain sustenance by eating the many of the various grasses or most types of leaves. We do not seem to have the stomach for it (sorry, unintentional pun). Are there ways to prepare these indigestible plant materials so that they can be ingested and then some nutrition be gained? Boiling? Pounding into a paste? Just interested in case of hard times ahead. ---
**Author:** ![livelykid1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@livelykid1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/livelykid1)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/2 "2002-12-31T18:54:25Z")
I am far from being an expert on human nutrition, but from what i know, most plants contain cellulose as their from of carbohydrate storage. Humans do not have the necessary digestive tools to extract sufficiant energy from this source. Other animals, say cows and horses and sheep, do. To take a bunch of grass and make it usable for humans - and here’s where i am making this up - you;d have to expose the cellulose in the leaves to enzymes or other chemicals that break the cellulose down into more simple sugras that are usable by the body. Boiling or crushing will not do this, it is a chemical reaction facilitated by the digestive system. ---
**Author:** ![superfreakicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@superfreakicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superfreakicus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/3 "2002-12-31T19:09:34Z")
put them in a juicer. or process them through a cow, and drink it’s milk. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/4 "2002-12-31T19:15:54Z")
Actually, I believe cows and other herbivores have bacteria in their stomachs which break down the cellulose. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/5 "2002-12-31T22:18:15Z")
I think we do already. Flour is indigestable in it’s raw form - itn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/6 "2002-12-31T22:34:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by k2dave \* > \*\*I think we do already. Flour is indigestable in it’s raw form - itn’t it? \*\* I don’t think so. If you mean whole flour then you have the digestible carbohydrates and the fiber which is not digested. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/7 "2002-12-31T22:38:20Z")
Ok then I have a way to turn grass into something that humans can eat - but it requires a cow. ---
**Author:** ![livelykid1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@livelykid1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/livelykid1)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/8 "2002-12-31T22:41:18Z")
Actually, a bacterium is a digestive tool. But I agree with the point. I have to find out more about this instead of just guessing. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/9 "2002-12-31T23:04:43Z")
Just [convert cellulose to glucose](http://www.glue.umd.edu/~nsw/ench485/lab4.htm) and then I think you’re set. ---
**Author:** ![andy\_fl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@andy\_fl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andy_fl)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-grasses-leaves-for-nutrition-and-survival/145906/10 "2003-01-01T01:17:20Z")
Some tall grasses have seeds which are collected by tribals (I read this somewhere I don’t remember). I think the method used to collect these seeds/grain was to beat the top part of the grass with a plate and collect the ensuing grains in a cloth. But its not a very productive method and sorry no cites.